Major General Beale in "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live"

Major General Beale is portrayed as a well experienced military man, who is experienced and has a tall stature. He is a military man with a strict character who cannot afford to waste time on nonsense which makes him unique in the rather clumsy environment of the series. It is rather easy to see that Beale has a military background as he thinks and acts tactically and also has strict behavior making him a rather powerful character in the story.

In "The Walking Dead: The Major Characters: “The Ones Who Live,” Major General Beale is one of the characters that play a very crucial role in the direction of the story. One must admit that he is a protagonist whose actions and decisions produce some consequences for the other characters and the plot. Beale gets leadership roles when it comes to guaranteeing that order and safety are created in a world full of walkers. He is one of the leading characters of the series and his purpose is to represent the idea of the show, which is the survival and the conflict between the protagonist and the military.

The latter is played by Terry O’Quinn and he does so with equal skill and subtlety. Even though Beale is an antagonist, O’Quinn does a great job of making fans feel both threatened by the character and, at the same time, feel for him. This performance portrays a man who seems to have a conflict of interest between the role of a protector and the world he finds himself in after waking up. O’Quinn does fairly well in portraying Beale, the exterior of the man is quite stern while the interior is portrayed as somewhat gentle; Beale is one of the most complex characters in the series.

The only aspect which is quite conspicuous in the performance of O’Quinn is the evil demeanour he gives to the character of Beale. Unlike most other antagonists, Beale does not have a recognisable evil personality, which makes him even more menacing because of it. O’Quinn is also able to convey the feeling of danger just by looking or making a gesture in the direction of the other characters of the movie. This is a rather strange aspect that makes Beale’s actions even more evil since he is portrayed as a ruthless and methodical man whose cool head often masks his cruelty.

Major General Beale is a man who has a personal ethic and values, he is a man with many dependants. He has one single objective, to ensure that his people stay alive, and this is a very noble goal, but the means he uses to achieve this are wrong in most cases, they are ethically wrong. The military training has made Beale to be disciplined and orderly and he tries to order a society that is full of disorder. Still, his focus on these principles alienates him from other characters who have different ways of going through life in the post-apocalyptic environment.

Especially the private relation that Beale has especially with his son Mason adds a layer of complexity and moral ambiguity to the character. The fact that his son is in a different Civic Republic facility means that Beale is not only driven by responsibility but also by fear for his family. This personal motivation makes Beale more realistic and the viewer gets an insight of the main character’s mental status and the causes of his actions. This evil side can be attributed to the fact that in the real world anything can happen and he has to protect his family.

In this regard, Beale has a lot of interaction with other major characters of the series. He is rather authoritarian in his attitude and this is why he quarrels with the other survivors who are more independent and rebellious. These interactions demonstrate how the leadership and survival is a fight between two worldviews. The only way Beale can interact with most of the characters from the play is through tension, but, at the same time, he has a sense of admiration for them.

The second conflict in the series is ideological conflict between Beale and Michonne. Michonne is more civilized and moral in the manner she guides people compared to Beale who is very aggressive and ruthless in his approach and aim of growing CRM. This ideological conflict puts the two characters against each other since both of them attempt to impose their vision of how to survive and establish order in a post-apocalyptic world. They depict the leadership ethical issues and the choices that have to be made in a crisis.

Major General Beale is a multifaceted character whose presence adds depth and intrigue to "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Terry O’Quinn’s acting makes Beale one of the most ambiguous characters of the show, who tries to introduce order and kindness into the world where both things are in short supply. This is the real transformation of his character in the series as an epic story of leadership, self-sacrifice, and the spirit of man in the struggle.